China Glaze Graffiti Glitter

Hello lacquered lovelies! Happy Thursday! I hope you're all having a good week. It's another TVD day. I may die of the anxiety. And of course my birthday is on a Thursday this year! I turn 23 on February 7th... craziness. I feel old!

Anyway, I've just got a quick post for you today of a new beauty that you may consider picking up. When Jen posted the China Glaze Glitz Bitz 'n Pieces collection I was amazed that I actually wanted them, since they contain bar glitter. I'm not a bar glitter person AT ALL, but when I wandered across them in person about a week ago, I immediately texted Jen and asked her which ones I needed. She, of course, replied right away with the two that I was already holding! Brain twins, no? It was kinda creepy, I laughed like a nutter and the girl in the store was staring at me like I was dangerous.

Anyway, so I picked up two from this collection (so far?). This is the first one I have to share with you, Graffiti Glitter, which is gorgeous emerald green glitter mixed in with the black hexes and bars. I tried to channel Jen, since she layered hers over a super pale green (Zoya Neely), but since I don't own Neely yet, I picked a green that wouldn't give me mad lobster hands, Orly Gumdrop. I always remember Gumdrop as being much mintier than it really is, but I digress.

Application on Graffiti Glitter was okay. It was a bit thick, but I'll probably thin it before I wear it the next time. I also noticed that the bars tended to build up a bit on the brush. I always paint my thumbnails first, then go from pinky to index, so you can tell that my index fingernail ended up getting a lot more bars than the nails I did first. Kinda interesting.

While I'm thinking about it, can any of you recommend a minty green that won't give me lobster hands? What are your favourite minty green polishes?

Two coats of Gumdrop, one of Graffiti Glitter and CND Air Dry.

That's it, short and sweet. What do you guys think? Are you eyeballing any of these? Like I said, I'm surprised at how much I like them... I'd still prefer these exact glitters minus the bars though, I think!

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful day!

Mixed finish double accent nails

Hello lacquered lovelies! Happy Thursday! It's TVD day. I feel like I never post on Thursdays but that's probably because I'm usually pretty much dying in anticipation of what will happen tonight. Do any of you guys watch the Vampire Diaries?

Today I've just got a quick post - I shared this yesterday on my Instagram (glittagloves) and you guys seemed to like it, so I figured I'd do a post on it too! I know I said in my last post that I'd have a stash video up next, but I'm facing some logistical errors (translate: I'm an idiot and making videos is hard) so yeah. I'm working on it. I have a lot of my less classy moments to edit out... I ended up whisper singing a lot so it got creepy pretty fast.

ANYWAY, I've been seeing a lot of double accent nail manicures lately (instead of just one accent nail - like your thumb or ring fingernail, you do two, usually side by side) and I'm loving them so hard. My love Whitney of Dressed Up Nails (it legit took me twenty minutes to write that sentence because I went to her blog and got distracted by her freaking flawless shit I mean posts because I'm professional) posted a couple of accent nail manicures recently on her Instagram, and a couple of them were with less traditional accent nails (her index for one, I believe!) so I was inspired by that. I was also inspired by the nail art she does, and how her designs always flow really well together without necessarily being the same - like these, for example. Can you tell I love her blog? I also love her nail length... literal perfection imo, I'm loving shorties so much right now.

So, I started out with OPI Ink (suede) on my index and middle fingernails. I decided to use one of the Nicole by OPI Selena Gomez (it pains me to own these) glitters that I picked up on my ring and pinky fingernails. The glitter was Sweet Dreams. I tried layering it to opacity on my thumb but it wasn't quite the coverage I was hoping for, so I chose to layer it over OPI Funky Dunkey.  I didn't want the base colour of FD to show through too much because I realised after that I didn't do the best job of colour-matching the small glitter lol.

I loved the mix of the matte with the shiny sparkly glitter... I always adore matte nails and I didn't get the nickname Glitta Gloves for my love of cremes, so it was right up my alley! Two coats of Ink, no topcoat, one coat of Funky Dunkey and three of Sweet Dreams with Seche Vite.

Wow my nails are super nubby right now haha! Anyway, what do you guys think? Have you been mixing finishes lately? Playing with accent nails?

Hopefully I'll have my stash video up soon... and I got an awesome order from Harlow & Co. today, so I'll be posting those beauties soon too! I'm determined to get back onto the blogging train... I miss writing to you guys and deluding myself into thinking that people care about my ramblings!

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful day!

Skittle manicure with China Glaze Def Defying

Hello lacquered lovelies! Happy Sunday! I hope you're all having a good weekend :) I'm hopefully going to have a video up later on today but I figured I'd post this quickly since I've got the pictures edited.

So, you guys read Marta's blog, right? Of course you do. I love her blog - her manicures are always inspiring and chic. Much classier than what I could ever pull off but Marta does it beautifully! Some of my favourite manicures that she shares are her skittle manis - like this one she posted recently, which is amazing, or these two... I love how she mixes it up and does different designs on all (or most) of her nails but it doesn't look childish! I feel like it always looks childish on me but it's probably my colour choices.

Anyway, this is my first attempt at a proper skittle manicure. I used China Glaze Def Defying and American Apparel Hassid. Started out by painting all of my nails but my thumb and ring fingernail with Def Defying, used Hassid on my thumb and ring fingernail. Decided to mattify it (you guys know how much I love black matte nails, right?), then decided to add polka dots. Pinky and thumbnail left on their own, then added LA Girl Glitter Addict in Uninhibited on my index. This was so fun!

So there it is, just a quick post. What do you guys think? Have you done any skittle manicures before? How do you like to mix them up?

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful day!

Illamasqua Raindrops

Hello lacquered lovelies! Happy hump day :) I feel like I haven't done a pink Wednesday post in ages... I should work on that. I should work on posting, actually. I haven't been feeling that inspired lately... we're going through some rough family stuff at the moment so I feel like I'm kind of a permadowner at the moment. I'll work on that, promise.

I decided to post this polish because I got an email a couple of days ago reminding me of its return... Illamasqua's infamously beautiful Raindrops. That is indeed a direct link to buy the polish, if you decide you'd like to. Spoiler alert for what the rest of this post will contain: you need it.

They also have an awesome sale on at the moment on some gorgeous polishes... I placed an order because it appears that they're getting rid of Scorn, Baptise, Load (how could you not want that polish just for the disgusting accuracy of the name.... is it just me) and Sangers lipstick... those of you who follow me on twitter or instagram know how much I love red lipstick! So yeah. Those are a few of the things I scooped up haha. Can't wait to get my order!

Anyway, Raindrops. It's beautiful. It's one of my favourite polishes of all time. I usually wear it layered (because up until recently I didn't think I'd ever be able to get it again!) but in honour of its return, I decided to show it to you guys on its own. It looks lovely layered over light greys, purples or blues though. Raindrops is sheer. It's right in the description on the Illamasqua website and they aren't lying. I've only ever worn it on its own twice... once when I first got it (I think about a year and a half ago, just before they got rid of it), when I kept my nails much longer, and it took me four coats on some nails but from what I remember, I needed five on most. Keep in mind that I tend to use thin(ner) coats, so that does factor in. Now that I keep my nails much shorter, I was good with three coats.

This is three coats of Raindrops, plus topcoat (Essie Good to Go).

Illamasqua polishes are available from the Illamasqua website. Here's a direct link to Raindrops again. On the Illa website, the polishes are £13.50, which is $21.67 USD, or $21.34 CAD, apparently. You can also get Illamasqua polishes from the Sephora website, but I don't see it in the section for Illamasqua polishes. They're $14 USD ($16 CAD) so hopefully they'll be getting the new collection soon!

Ahhhh isn't it so pretty? What do you guys think? If you hadn't owned it before, will you be scooping it up now that it's back?

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful day!

Favourites of 2012: Indies!

Hello lacquered lovelies! Happy Wednesday! I'm sorry this post is a bit late. I didn't have proper swatches for all of them (like I've mentioned previously, I'm lazy/always post mani photos on instagram but they're not the same quality as what I prefer to put on here since they're just phone pictures) and yesterday was a bit of a write-off for me haha. I hope you all had a safe and happy new year!

So, let's jump in. Before we start, I just wanted to mention that there are a couple of brands that I included in this list that aren't what I would consider "indie" - not handmade/foreign etc. The reason I grouped them all together was really for convenience and to avoid going crazy trying to categorise everything properly haha. So this list would more properly be titled "indies/foreign/not widely available/only available for purchase online/not available in traditional stores". Or something like that. Anyway, enough talk, more photos?

Lac Attack Dementor's Kiss

Layered over China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

I'm sure nobody is surprised that I put this on here. I know I'm biased since I helped Ana make the collection but you'll forgive me, right? I love this so hard. You guys know how I feel about black glitter. Obviously I go mental for it since I'm pretty sure it's the only glitter colour that has its own tag on here haha. Anyway, I love how this turned out. The black really pops with the red mixed in and it's easy to work with and just plain awesome. This was two coats.

a-england Dragon

Adina seriously blew us all out of the water with her collection of holos, the Legend. I'm still not over how beautiful they are. This was one of my favourites but I kept missing out on the chance to buy it (it was popular!) but finally managed to score it on Ninja Polish. It's such a rich green, adding the holo and the gold that runs through it is just icing on the cake. Also, Dragon? Seriously. It was made for me. Two easy coats.

Dollish Polish We're Simply Meant to Be

Over Sally Hansen Ion

This might be a party foul. I'm not sure. Is it a party foul for me to include polishes that aren't available anymore? If so, I'm sorry. When I heard that DP was releasing a collection themed around one of my favourite movies ever, the Nightmare Before Christmas, I knew I was going to have to try every day to get them. They were only available for about two weeks leading up to Halloween, which is really sad, because they were fantastic. This is my favourite of the ones I snagged - I love to look at it. It's so interesting - I love the smaller aqua and pale purple glitters mixed in with those large yellow and purple hexes. And obviously I love square glitter so if you make it black square glitter... I'm all up on that. This was two coats.

Lac Attack Jewel of the Nile

Over OPI So Many Clowns, So Little Time

God. I feel like this polish started so much this year! I was crazy about it but never lucky enough to catch it when it was in stock. I tweeted about it (because I have a serious twitter problem) and Ana replied right away... and the rest is history. I didn't know then that we would end up becoming friends (I didn't know she was my spirit animal then) - I just knew that she was talented, made pretty polishes and seemed nice. It's crazy how it started with Jewel of the Nile and ended up with us collaborating on a collection with a common passion as the theme... I feel so lucky to have "met" Ana! Jewel of the Nile is special to me for sentimental reasons, but also because I just think it's beautiful. I love the combination of glitters and it's matte glitter and I'm all about matte glitter.

Shimmer Polish Mary

Over OPI Danke-Shiny Red

I completely blame Salla for getting me to pay attention to Shimmer Polish. She was posting such beautiful swatches and I knew that I wouldn't be able to resist. This is such a lovely glitter. I love the combination of colours and that black glitter is to die for. I DIE. I feel like black glitter is a common theme already on my list. I'm such a sucker. I love the complexity of Shimmer glitters, and it was surprising to me that Mary was my favourite, since I'm not usually keen on red... but Mary is too beautiful to ignore!

KBShimmer Oh Splat!

No surprise here, right? I love polishes that look like candy, as I mentioned in my mainstream favourites post, and Oh Splat! just looks like happiness to me. I was so happy when Katie of Harlow & Co. started stocking KB, since they don't ship internationally directly from their store. I got a bottle of Oh Splat! for myself and one for a future giveaway... did you know that this polish was so popular that Katie did a restock of JUST Oh Splat! this year? Yeah. Craziness! This was three coats. Two is good for most people, apparently. but I can't seem to get rid of bald spots with two.

Different Dimension Social Suicide

Over China Glaze Concrete Catwalk

Black and white glitters rule my heart. I just love how versatile they are, you can use them to spice up any manicure and it will look awesome! I really loved Different Dimension's take on it for a lot of reasons - one, it's super easy to apply and the coverage is nice. But also Mean Girls reference. +10000000000000. I can't tell you how often I reached for this polish this year. I was just thinking about layering it over my current manicure haha. Obsessed.

Dollish Polish Toxic Avenger

Here's another one that's not available anymore... I'm sorry. It's strange that I picked two LE/discontinued Dollish Polishes for my list... I'm a bit of a jerk aren't I? Anyway, holographic and multichrome? SOLD. I only have a mini of this thanks to my amazing friend Jen, so I used it sparingly this year, but the first time I wore Toxic Avenger I kept the manicure on for over a week... I loved it that much. Two coats.

Girly Bits Mother May I?

I loved Girly Bits this year. If I had to pick just a couple of indie brands that we were all watching this year, Girly Bits would definitely be on there. It doesn't hurt that Pam is a total sweetheart! Mother May I was a standout for me. I love the combination of the iridescent shimmer and the different sizes of glitter. Also square glitter. I am shameless about square glitter. I definitely got a lot of wear out of this one! Three coats.

Jade Vermelho Surreal

I wouldn't classify Jade as an indie brand, as they aren't handmade, but they are foreign so they ended up on this list. I can't wait to reswatch this with some proper sunlight though - I had to make do with what I have! I'm eternally on the quest for the perfect red holo and this one is definitely pretty damn close. It's really pigmented and lovely and vibrant - obviously red (a lot of red holos come out looking more pink on the nail), almost squishy looking and WAY more holographic than my photo is making it seem. Lovely. Two coats.

a-england Princess Tears

Sensing a theme here? I'm such a sucker for holos haha. I love Princess Tears so much, it's a lovely colour and it has gorgeous shimmer that runs through it as well. It was like a classy lady colour with something extra when I was in the sun. Do you guys classify polish colours? I always like to wear classy shades even though I don't think that I'm classy at all haha. Anyway... I can't wait to see what Adina does in 2013! Two coats.

Lac Attack Weasley's Wizard Wheezes

Over OPI Yoga-ta Get this Blue

You didn't think I would only have one polish from the Magical Musings collection on here, did you? Nooooooooope. If you had asked me last  year if I thought a polish with bar glitter would be on my favourites list for ANYTHING, let alone favourites from the year, I would've laughed in your face. Yet here we are.... I love this glitter so hard. The bars feel perfect given who it was made for (Fred and George) and I love how the orange and yellow really pop over a dark blue. I'd love to see this over a dark red too... *makes note* This was two coats.

So, what do you guys think? What were some of your favourite indies of the year? Who will you be keeping an eye on? Are there any brands you want to try? I'm so excited to see what indie makers come up with in 2013, I feel like we got so many unique beauties from them in 2012. I'd like to see more black glitter please.... and more khaki green glitter!

Thanks for reading! Have a beautiful day!